Paralyzer
by Unwritten Bliss
Summary: [drabble]'Well I’m not paralyzed, But, I seem to be struck by you. I wanna make you move, because you're standing still. If your body matches what your eyes can do, you'll probably move right through Me on my way to you.'[series]
1. My Strength

_Paralyzer_  
by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** My Strength  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** My first try and Inuyasha drabbles. Or anything Sessomaru/Kagome related. Erk.

* * *

She walked behind him, her feet feeling like deadweights in the summer heat. How long had it been since they had rested?

An hour? Two? Four?

Oh, she was sure it had been in the early morning since they had last stopped. Now the heavy, bright, _burning_ sun flared down from its highest crest in the sky, ensnaring the earth with ungodly heat.

She needed water.

She needed food.

And her feet needed some serious T.L.C!

She opened her mouth to illustrate just how exhausted she felt when she became aware that world had become to tilt.

First, it was a very big pain in her left foot.

Then, it was wind rushing past her face.

And then, it was the dirt and rocks that planted themselves in her face.

No, they hadn't planted, for dirt and rocks had no way of planting themselves onto anything.

Kagome lay on the ground in a daze, trying to figure out how she had inexplicably ended up face first on the dirt path that she and an annoying inuyoukai were currently using.

"Human."

The voice made her fingers twitch and she mumbled out a string of unintelligible words.

"You will stand immediately."

Now her eyebrows twitched, but still she did not get up. She was too tired, and, frankly, she just wanted to annoy the hell out of the daiyoukai.

"_Wench_, you will stand immediately and place yourself into a more suitable position before I _force_ you to," there was a pause, in which Kagome was sure he had begun to lift that stupid, perfect white eyebrow that he had begun to use so often in order to demonstrate the few emotions he dared to show.

"That is, of course, unless your puny human, feminine strength cannot hold up that large bulk of a corpse you call fit to-."

He never had a chance to finish his sentence, because the minute he commented on Kagome's _weight_, she was standing and glaring at the overly confident, smug inuyoukai. Forcing a bright smile on her face, Kagome walked right beside Sesshomaru. She pulled back her hand behind his back, "You're right, Sesshomaru," she said, "Forgive this _puny_, _human_, _feminine_ strength of mine. Next time, I'll be sure to fall in a more _suitable_ position from exhaustion."

And with that, she sent a wave of miko powers searing through her arm to her hand, which she then used to smack Sesshomaru kindly on the back.

Sending that smug inuyoukai forward a good 20 yards.

_That'll teach him how to talk to a woman,_ Kagome thought self-righteously. And with that, she turned on her heels, and walked away.


	2. These

_Paralyzer_  
by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** These  
**Characters:** Inuyasha and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own 'Paralyzer' by Finger Eleven.  
**Notes:** I tried making an only 100 word drabble. Its 112. -shakesfist- Oh well. I still like it.  
**Warning**: It might be angsty!

* * *

His eyes bleed from all the pain and fury that runs throughout. And she, the one that loves him but he does not love in return, has given up. She has tried everything, to calling out his name, to using the cursed word that would surely subjugate him. 

It did not.

Fear and sadness are the emotions she feels as she runs away from him. _These_ are the emotions she suffers when she feels claws grip her arms. _These_ are the emotions she suffers as she screams out in pain.

And _these_ are the emotions she experiences, when she is pulled from the very world she has worked so hard to protect.


	3. Pouring Rain

_Paralyzer_  
by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Pouring Rain  
**Characters:** Implied Sesshomaru Kagome?  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own 'Paralyzer' by Finger Eleven.  
**Notes:** I'm not quite sure what I feel about this particular drabble. I wasn't sure what I was even thinking. See, its raining right now, and I suddenly picture Kagome sitting at the mouth of a cave, watching the rain fall and just _thinking_. And then, I thought, "What the hey, I'll just throw in a stoic companion. Maybe Sesshy-kun!". And there you have it. XD Argh.

* * *

She sits in the cave, staring out the mouth at the pouring rain. The storm had not pulled back its reigns since two days, and the river bellow had begun to lift its waters above flooding level. 

Still, she sits in the cave, staring out the mouth at the pouring rain.

"Do you ever feel like giving up?" she says, her voice bellow a whisper. She knows he can hear her, her companion. He hears everything, sees everything.

And she still sits in the cave, staring out the mouth at the pouring rain.

"No."

It was brisk, determined, and demanding. The finality of a conversation long thought over.

"Of course not," she breathes.

And she knows that her companion sees things she cannot. He can see a fly on a wall, or a flea on a dog and the leaves turning yellow before it is ever autumn.

He can see everything that she cannot.

And she knows that her companion goes places she cannot. He can go to the tallest mountain and not feel one lost breath, he can go into the sky and cherish the warmth of a sun so high and he can go into a battle without the fear of ever losing.

And yet, he will never sit at the mouth of a cave, staring out at the pouring rain.


	4. Pink Sensation

_Paralyzer_  
by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Pink Sensation  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** This was a drabble I entered in the contest of a LJ community called Ebony Silks. Let's see, the prompt was 'autumn'.

* * *

**Pink Sensation:**

Kagome tilts her head to the side, staring at the leaf a certain little girl was holding up to her face.

"Rin likes the leaves when they turn gold," the girl states as she twirls the golden leaf between her thumb and index finger. "Doesn't Kagome-chan like the leaves when they turn gold?"

Kagome kneels down so that she's at the girl's height and plucks the leaf from her tiny fingers to scrutinize it. "I like autumn," Kagome says simply, and then she smiles at Rin, "it gets nice and cool. Special things happen in autumn."

Kagome is acutely aware of another pair of molten, golden eyes staring at her back, but she ignores the stubborn daiyoukai in determination.

"Rin likes autumn, too!" the small girl declares in excitement. "But the flowers die."

Kagome tilts her head. "Not all die. Some flowers live only in fall."

Rin looks at Kagome curiously. "What flower?"

Kagome opens her mouth, but her mind draws a complete blank. For a moment, she fears she might not be able to drift Rin's mind away from death, but a silky voice behind her answers instead.

"Pink Sensation."

Kagome looks back at Sesshomaru in a mix of awe and confusion before another flower name pops up into her head. "Windflower!" she exclaims happily, "A windflower is a good example, too!"

Sesshomaru nods sagely and comes to stand beside Kagome. "Come," and he begins walking in a direction that Kagome supposes he just picked at random.

"Sesshomaru, what about Jaken?" she asks curiously. The green toad left a while ago, and Kagome supposes he should return soon.

"We'll be back."

Rin grabs hold of Kagome's hand and drags her along, following Sesshomaru with a loyal step.

Finally, they stop in front of an old tree and Kagome peers over Sesshomaru's shoulder at what lay just beneath the shade. "Rin, look!" Kagome tugs at the small girl's hand, bringing her up beside her and she hears Rin gasp in excitement.

"Rin likes the pretty pink flowers!"

Kagome smiles slightly and stoops down to pluck a flower from a stem and she twirls it in between her index and thumb. "What kind is it?" she wonders aloud.

"Pink Sensation," he answers from behind her, his voice a strange tone.

Kagome nods and looks back at the pale-pink hooded flowers, before gently tucking the bloom in her hand behind Rin's ear. "There," she says at last, "perfect."

Rin nods enthusiastically, and Kagome asks: "Better than dried up brown leaves, right?"

When Rin nods again, this time with more attitude, Kagome laughs. Suddenly Rin whirls around and points at another tree. "Look! More pretty flowers!"

"Now I recognize those," Kagome says with a slight nod, "those are hupehensis flowers. Windflowers." The plant's leaves are glossy green and fern-like, but the buds were beautiful pink and white, like a poppy's flowers.

Rin squeals and tries tackling the plant through her excitement, but instead falls right into the small clump. Sesshomaru looks as if he is about to have a heart attack, but a hearty, child-like laugh comes from the bushes and Rin pops back up again, grinning her toothy grin.

"Rin's okay!"

And then she disappears again.

Kagome sighs, her chin resting in her cupped hands. "Well, that was easy." She looks back up at Sesshomaru, "Thank you."

"Do not mention it," he answers, his eyes watching her and the look is so strange Kagome has to glance away to hide her blush.

She sees something from the corner of her eye – a flurry of white silk – and suddenly he is squatting down in front of her and Kagome falls backward in surprise. She is expecting to fall back on her butt, but she doesn't expect his hand grabbing her by her arm and pulling her up again.

The skin he touched feels warm and tingly and Kagome fights down a noisy blush.

Suddenly a pink bud is in his hand, looking so vulnerable, so breakable in those poisonous claws. So out of place.

"You like autumn?" he asks.

Kagome blinks. "Yes."

"Why?"

Kagome blinks again, confused, before she smiles and says, "Because it's the end and a beginning. The end of summer, of sweltering heat and sweat and dirty bugs. It's the end of life for plants, sometimes animals and bugs. It's the beginning of winter, when a whole different world falls from the sky in soft white fluff balls. It's beautiful. I've always liked fall. I don't know how to explain it."

He looks even more confused than ever – trying to keep his bored façade up is harder with Kagome around.

He says nothing for a long time and Kagome struggles to stay still – having him so close in front of her is hard. He always looks so serious.

Finally his face softens just slightly, and he speaks. "There," he says; his voice low enough to where only she can hear him. He tucks a strand of her hair behind one ear before then placing the flower there. "Perfect."


	5. Oops

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Oops  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** This was the first drabble I entered into a contest of a LJ community called Ebony Silks. Let's see, the prompt was 'silk'. I won that contest too! Whoo! Haha. Anyways. If you guys haven't noticed yet, I'm a big fan of Sessh/Kags.

* * *

**Oops:**

Kagome swishes her hips, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The silk kimono hangs off her thin form in loose ripples, and slowly she turns to the right, studying her body's profile.

"Silk has never fit me right," she mutters as she turns to the left, thinking that perhaps from this view it would do better.

Sighing, she turns her back to the mirror and looks at her reflection from this view over her shoulder. Her frown creases her brow, and she slowly lifts one hand to remove her wavy black hair from blocking her view of her back. She lifts her hands out at both sides, and feels the silk material fall like a waterfall over her arms and to her knees in long bell-loops.

"It's just so beautiful," she admits in disappointment.

"I'm glad you like it."

Kagome spins around on the balls of her feet to face the daiyoukai that currently was leaning against the doorpost casually. Her voice stuck in her throat, embarrassment flooding her like a high river.

"You do like it?"

"Yes," she finally answers, her voice coming out much more calm than she felt, "its very fine. I didn't know you got it for me."

"I didn't." He reaches out and catches a sleeve with one clawed hand, and pulls it out slightly to full length, the shoulder cloth slipping off from its position to dangle off the shoulder.

Her face flushes pink and she turns back to the mirror to block her face from his view, although she knew he would smell the heat coming off of her in a few seconds. She absently lifts the shoulder back up to its place.

"It was my mother's."

Kagome nearly falls over forward in surprise, and stutters, "I'm sorry, I didn't know—I should never have tried it on."

Without saying a word he steps behind her, so that she can see his reflection as well, and his hands find their way to her shoulders. Kagome becomes very still, eyes wide as she watches Sesshomaru's hand slowly pull the cloth down her shoulders once more so that it hangs off.

He leans forward and says, close to her ear, "This is how it's supposed to be."

"Oh," she manages to squeak.

Slowly he trails his hands back up to her bare shoulders, his claws drawing lazy lines across her sensitive skin. Kagome worries her bottom lip as a shiver run down her spin.

"You give it justice, you know," he whispers into her ear and again she shivers.

"Silk doesn't look right on me," she admits to him.

"Modest," he says as his claws slowly draw lines up her neck and then back down. "You shouldn't be so modest."

Kagome, who cannot stand close contact with the handsome daiyoukai for too long, spins around so that she is facing him and says, "This dress definitely isn't."

When Sesshomaru lifts an elegant white brow, Kagome realizes what she has said and covers her mouth with both hands, eyes even wider now that she has insulted Sesshomaru's mother.

When he takes a step toward her, Kagome is quick to step back, but he grabs her wrists and pulls them away from her mouth. "I am so sorry I said that," Kagome blurts, "your mother was probably a very humble woman—Eek, I meant demon!"

Kagome feels as if she is about to cry when he takes another step toward her, and by this time her back is against the cool metal of the mirror.

"I mean, this dress is lovely!" she continues hopelessly in one breath, "it's very lovely…and probably looked much more beautiful on your mother than I. Not that I'm saying I look beautiful in it, because of course I don't. I mean, I'm not degrading myself but I just don't look good in silk and never have. Not that I'm saying silk is terrible, it's a very wonderful substance. Taking string from a caterpillar's butt is always…lovely…And—"

Sesshomaru is eager to shut the human up, and he knows just the right way. So just as she begins to go off into another rant, he covers her mouth in his. When he pulls away a moment later he leans his forehead against hers, and a whole different kind of white silk shades her face from seeing anything but his face.

"You look stunning in silk."


	6. Not Him

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Not Him  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Prompt: Feral. Didn't win this contest for ebonysilks, but I had the immense pleasure of writing Sesshomaru going all beastly.

* * *

Feral. 

That was how he was looking at her.

Eyes flood red,

Fangs bared.

That's how he was looking at her.

Completely,

Utterly,

Untamed.

His beast growled.

She stepped back.

He stepped forward.

He seemed almost eager.

Almost eager to fill the space between them.

The eagerness frightened her.

The way he pulled back his lips.

He pulled back his lips in a snarl.

It was inhuman.

Wild.

Feral.

That was how he was looking at her.

Eye flood red,

Fang bared.

That's how he was looking at her.

He was lost.

Did he even know?

Did he know what he was doing?

She stepped to the right.

He eagerly stepped to the right.

His movement fluid,

Not jerky as they had been.

They had been robotic when he had first appeared.

He had been fighting it then.

Now he wasn't.

And he snarled.

It was callous.

Fearsome.

Feral.

That was how he was looking at her.

Eyes flood red,

Fang bared.

That's how he was looking at her.

She jolted to the left,

Faked to the right,

And began running to the left.

He fell for it.

At least,

She thought he had.

She didn't look back to look.

Fear gripped her with chilly hands,

Strangling her.

Strangling her until it hurt to breathe.

Something was moving behind her.

Above her.

The trees hardly rustled,

The ground hardly shifted.

And the rush of wind to her right was the only warning.

He was in front of her,

And she couldn't stop running.

Her momentum was up,

Her velocity too fast.

He readily reached out.

He reached out and grabbed her arms.

His long silver hair blew behind him.

The movement made his eyes shine.

His eyes shone,

And she couldn't breathe.

Feral.

That was how he was looking at her.

Eyes flood red,

Fang bared.

That's how he was looking at her.

She felt a scream rip apart her throat.

She struggled against his grip.

His vice grip.

It hurt.

His nails dug into her.

And she screamed.

She screamed and she wouldn't stop.

She wouldn't stop.

His mouth was at her neck.

His nose brushing against the curve of her jaw.

His lips moved gently against her earlobe.

For a moment…

Just for a minute her scream stilled.

And then he growled longingly.

This wasn't him.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Feral.

That was how he was looking at her.

Eyes flood red,

Fang bared.

That's how he was looking at her.

_Feral._


	7. Whispers in the Night

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Whispers in the Night  
**Characters:** Sango and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Just a little something that came to me a while back. This isn't anything new; it's been sitting in my computer for a while. Anyways. -U.B

* * *

Whispers in the night. 

"Sango?"

"Yes, Kagome-chan?"

"Have you noticed anything…_strange_…lately."

"Strange? Strange, how?"

"Strange, like…in our group, strange? Between…" A nervous pause.

"Oh, you mean between Sesshomaru-sama and Inuyasha!"

A nod. "Yeah. I mean, I know they hate each other…"

"And let us not forget the multiple times they have tried to kill each other…"

Another pause. "Right. I know they hate each other, but this is different."

A curious glance. "Different, Kagome-chan? How so?"

Wide eyes. "You haven't felt it?"

"Felt what?"

A sigh. "It's just _different_. Their auras – They change at certain periods in the day."

"You observed this?"

"Haven't _you_?"

An amused smile. "No, Kagome-chan, not nearly as much as you have."

A puzzled frown. "Maybe I'm just paranoid."

"How do their youki change?"

A thoughtful silence. "It's like they suddenly clash together. I don't know how else to explain it."

"When does this – " A stifled laugh " – _clash_ occur?"

"It happened today when I was arguing with Inuyasha."

A stunned silence. "Really?"

"Yeah. Inuyasha called me a bitch, and then this powerful youki surged up around us…"

Curiosity. "Did it hurt?"

A blink. "No. Now that I think about it, it didn't hurt as much as it should."

A laugh. "Oh, Kagome-chan."

"What's so funny? This is serious! The final battle's coming up and all they can think about is trying to best each other."

"_Best each other_?"

"You know; they aren't fighting, but they're still trying to show up the other."

"Kagome-chan, they are _posturing_."

"…Well, yeah."

"Posturing in front of _you_."

A blink. "Yeah, in front of me and everyone else. It's weird."

A shake of the head. "Kagome-chan…"

"Eh?"

"When else has it happened?"

A tap of a finger against the chin. "Well, the other day I was talking to Sesshomaru. Or trying to strike up a conversation. Having a discussion with that guy is like talking to a brick wall wielding a sword and –"

"Kagome-chan!"

Another blink. "Oh, right. So I was talking to him and he said something…And suddenly Inuyasha was there pulling me away from him and growling. It was really bizarre."

"Did Inuyasha sound mad?"

"Not mad – " A pause " – It was more worried than anything else. And then their auras spiked again."

"Kagome-chan?"

"Yes, Sango?"

"What period of the month is it for you?"

"Well, its _that_ period of the month but I don't see how that has anything to do with – "

A humorous laugh. "Oh, Kagome-chan. I know what it is."

A hopeful glisten. "Really, what is it?"

"They're Inuyoukai doing the only thing Inuyoukai know to do during the spell of a stimulating female."

A startled calm.

And then birds fluttering into the air, rudely awakened by a shrill scream.

"What?!"


	8. Drones

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Drones  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Made for another contest at Ebony Silks, the community over at LJ. The theme? Ebony. - U.B

* * *

He told himself that the only reason he stood there was because he told his brother he would keep an eye on her.

He told himself that the clench of his fists every time he could not find her in the ocean of green and white uniforms was not out of worry for her, but out of irritation.

He was here, wasn't he? He was doing his job, keeping his word. The oh-so-mighty Sesshomaru never broke his word. _Never_.

Of course, his brother had no idea about this pact. _Yet_. Inuyasha was still looking for the jewel-shards, and she was still in love with him.

Once more, his eyes scanned the sea of green and white. They all looked the same. Drones, that's what they were. _That's what they are_.

She was not like that.

"Kagome!"

He searched the crowd, his keen eyes spotting her lithe form immediately. Blue, sparkling eyes. Unruly, ebony hair billowing behind her in the winter breeze.

He watched as the miko waved happily to her friends and ran over. The annoying women she called friends were talking animatedly to her, but she seemed distracted. She scanned the crowds, tense.

Sesshomaru decided it was time to leave. He turned on the balls of his ebony black shoes and began his treck back to the office. She was safe, and as long as he knew that…

As long as he knew his future mate was safe, he was _content_.


	9. Stars

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Stars  
**Characters:** Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** This has been sitting in my computer collecting dust. I had originally made it for a contest at EbonySilks, but I don't think I ever entered it. Just thought it was kind'a sweet, and I haven't posted something in MONTHS. So here we have it, folks. My first entry in a long time. - U.B

* * *

**Stars:**

The night sky was beautiful

The night sky was beautiful.

It could place her into a trance.

Just watching the stars,

Just watching them brought her a sense of wonder.

How many stars were there?

Every day a star imploded into itself.

And yet,

One would never know.

Not until seventy years would they know a star was missing.

So many, there are.

So many stars,

In one sky.

It was like on accident.

A child had tipped over a glass filled with sparkles.

And the sparkles scattered across the black carpet.

And the stars sparkled so beautifully.

She wondered:

When did a person become such a normal appearance…

So typical that no one would realize they were gone until years had passed?

The question made her sad.

Did he think of that?

He walked like a ghost.

Sliding between trees,

Glistening white hair swirling behind him.

Did he,

The powerful taiyoukai,

Ever think of that?

Did he ever fear that in seventy years no one would notice he had gone?

Did he fear at all?

She feared it all the time.

When she finally leaves this mysterious past,

Would they still think of her seventy years from then?

Would he still remember her?

And when, she wondered, did someone shine as brightly as the stars?

When did a person shine so wonderfully?

So beautifully that they looked like a star?

She hoped one day she would shine like that.

She wished with all her might,

That when she finally did…

Sesshomaru would be there to see.

Because then,

She wouldn't have to worry about him not remembering her.


	10. Dog v Homework

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Dog v. Homework  
**Characters:** Kagome and Sesshomaru  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Second entry in months. For the contest themed 'Homework' at the Sesshomaru/Kagome community EbonySilks. It won Best Humor. - U.B

* * *

**Dog v. Homework:**

"Miko."

When the dark haired girl did not look up from the hardback in her lap, his patience began to dwindle.

"_Miko_."

Kagome still did not look up to meet the taiyoukai's hard golden eyes, and Sesshomaru did not dare turn around to bring his hanyou brother to get the girl. Pride and dignity held him back from receiving any help from the boy. Surely Inuyasha would mock him for not being able to budge the human priestess.

Sesshomaru studied the enigma in front of him; to her indecently short kimono to her strange vocabulary, Kagome was indeed a mystery. And the fact that she could read was even more of interest than anything else.

Her fingers found the sharp corner of a page, and she fingered it for a second before licking her thumb and turning the page over.

Tightening one fist, the only sign of his frustration, Sesshomaru spoke to her once more: "Miko, it is time to leave."

She was perched on top of a boulder, her legs folded underneath her with the book resting between her legs. Her hair covered her face from sight.

And she still did not move.

"Oi," the hanyou called from the path, where he stood with their other companions, "Sesshomaru, what's takin' so damn long? Let's get a move on!"

Gritting his teeth, Sesshomaru finally lost what little patience he still held and, in one bound, found himself on top of the boulder, startling the miko from her reading.

"Hey! Give that back!"

But Sesshomaru already had the book between his large, powerful hands and in one swift movement, tore the book in half. And then in quarters. Before passing it indifferently back to the miko.

"We are leaving." And he jumped from the boulder and walked smugly away.

--(_present)_--

Kagome groans inwardly as she faces her teacher, her hands clutching a plastic bag to her chest. Inside the plastic bag are the few remains of homework she was able to save from the raging taiyoukai in the feudal era. Whatever had gotten into Sesshomaru, she might never know.

And her teacher will never find out.

_There's no way she'd believe me anyways_, Kagome thinks as she finally sets the bag against her desk.

"Kagome, where is your homework? Did you lose it again?" probes the teacher at the front of the room as she stacks the other student's papers together.

"No, ma'am…" Kagome replies, tiredly. "I did it." And she slowly approached the front of the room, dragging the bag beside her.

The teacher gazes at her curiously, "Well, where is it then?"

And Kagome, very unceremoniously, dumps the remains of her homework on the teacher's desk. "A dog ate it."


	11. Overalls

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Overalls  
**Characters:** Basically Everyone  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Entry for the 'Polka' theme a few weeks back. Didn't win anything. Too bad. - U.B

* * *

**Overalls:**

Their voices echoed off the naked branches, bringing no peace to the group.

"I didn't expect you to help me, Inuyasha," the young, brown-haired miko was saying, "I just wanted to warn you ahead of time!"

"You brought it up like you wanted me to do somethin' about it!" Inuyasha pointed out, matching her growing annoyance with his anger, "Can't blame me for _assuming_!"

Miroku gazed at Inuyasha patiently and, when it seemed Kagome would take a few moments to gather her momentum and her next argument, he stepped in. "Inuyasha, may I ask what it is that you don't like about it?"

"Yeah, Inuyasha!" agreed the small kitsune sitting on top of Kagome's giant yellow pack, "What's so wrong with dancing?"

Inuyasha snorted. "First of all, demons don't _dance_. Second of all, it's not _manly_. And lastly, it sounds stupid."

Kagome's eye twitched. She knew tons of decent men who danced in their spare time – decent men who were _manly_. "It's not stupid," Kagome snapped, "it's an art!"

"And _art_ isn't manly!" declared Inuyasha, as if making a great discovery.

Inuyasha considered dance unmanly, but Kagome decided that her hanyou friend was _dancing_ on a thin line between Kagome's patience and outrage.

Taking a deep breath – trying to calm her nerves, trying so hard not to say the dreaded 's' word – Kagome said in a quivering voice, "Look, I just wanted to let you know that we can't leave the village for very long this time. I have to go back home in a week to take lessons for a cotillion we're having at school. _You_ don't have to take the lessons, Inuyasha, _I_ have to take the lessons. Not you – _me_."

"But you're gonna make me practice with you," Inuyasha replied with a suspicious look, as if he could already tell where this was going – which wasn't where it was going at all.

"No," Kagome answered, "I'm not."

"But you're leavin' again."

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Two weeks."

There was a long silence as this information transferred into the hanyou's brain, as he digested this information. Finally his eyes grew wide and he exclaimed loudly, "Two weeks?!"

Birds who had been nesting in the trees around them took to the air, squawking furiously at the group of travelers for disturbing their sleep. Sango winced and pulled Kilala close in her lap, snuggling the demon like a child would a stuffed animal.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Sango tried, "it'll only be two weeks and between the time she leaves and the time she comes back we can look for Naraku."

"Or rest," added Miroku with a dreamy smile, "in a village with plenty of lovely young women – I mean," Miroku looked quickly over to Sango who sent him a glare that wounded him, "I mean, a village with plenty of old, nasty medicine women."

Sango huffed and looked away, and Kilala mewed gently up at the monk – Would he never learn?

"You can't go two weeks," Inuyasha continued, ignoring his companions' earlier comments. "I won't let you."

"You won't _let_ me?" Kagome repeated, aghast.

"Dancing's bad for you!" Inuyasha tried again.

"Only _polka's_ bad for you, and that's only because you have to wear funny overalls that hold total disregard for the fundamentals of fashion," Kagome retorted, turning away from Inuyasha to tend to the food sizzling over the fire.

As her friends attempted to picture what these mysterious 'overalls' were, Kagome continued, "Besides, I hear dancing makes you stronger – "

Inuyasha scoffed silently, and Kagome ignored him and instead chose to maintain her momentum before Inuyasha chose to interrupt her again.

" – Stronger mentally _and_ physically. In fact, it helps with balance. I think it would be good to learn; it's a piece of culture passed down through the ages."

"Are you done?" wondered Inuyasha.

Kagome didn't meet his gaze as she filtered the water away from the rice and noodles. "For now, yes."

"Good."

There was a ruffling of silk and then the stoic demon lord, who had been sitting silently beneath a tree, stepped away from the shadows. "Are you finished with your senseless prattling?" he wondered.

The group looked at him in surprise; it wasn't normal for Sesshomaru to speak to them in so many words. But the surprise quickly turned to quiet curiosity.

"Yes," Kagome muttered as she began to fill wooden bowls with the noodles and rice. It wasn't her mother's meal, but it was good enough. As she passed her friend's the bowls and settled down beside Sango, Sesshomaru turned to face his half-brother.

"I shall teach the miko."

Everyone looked up at Sesshomaru, and Kagome's eyes bulged. Sesshomaru teach _her _how to dance? That would be a disaster waiting to happen. She could step on his foot, and he'd probably cut her neck so fast that Sweeney Todd would be envious!

Inuyasha was not fond of it either and immediately kicked out the idea before anyone else could elaborate.

"You can't dance," sneered Inuyasha.

"You doubt this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru replied coldly.

"You can't dance," Inuyasha repeated, doubtfully.

"Dancing is a form of social engagement, Inuyasha, and it is preferred that nobles know how to waltz if any business is to be done."

The conversation turned toward the two brothers, both ignoring the wishes of the subject of their argument.

Turning away from the two males, Sango faced Kagome and said in a hushed voice, "It wouldn't be so bad."

Kagome nearly choked on her noodles and she turned quickly to her friend, "What do you mean?"

"Kagome, Sesshomaru-sama has been around for years. It is possible he has seen the first dance ever performed. He'd be a better teacher than you'd find in your time!" her friend explained in whispered tones.

Kagome considered that as she sipped up some noodles, her eyes staring blankly at the two brothers. Finally, she stood, and, with complete disregard to both males, stepped between them and faced Sesshomaru.

"I'll do it."

Sesshomaru masked his amusement and pleasure and instead nodded, "Hn."

"What?" crowed Inuyasha and Sango hid her satisfied grin.

"Sesshomaru can teach me a lot, I think. And, this way, I won't have to leave until the dance."

"I won't let you!" Inuyasha shouted.

Kagome's patience finally snapped. Eye twitching, Kagome opened her mouth and unleashed her anger in two, simple words: "Sit, boy!" And Inuyasha went crashing into the ground.

Kagome turned back to Sesshomaru and bowed gratefully, "Thank you, Sesshomaru."

"Do not think this will go without payment."

"Payment…?" Kagome looked at him nervously. What would he asked for? The jewel?

"Hn," concurred Sesshomaru.

"And what's that?"

Sesshomaru fought back the smirk that threatened to slip his stoic mask. "You must wear the polka overalls."


	12. Coffee Cake

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Coffee Cake  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Entry for the 'Monday' theme. I won second place, yay! I had been waiting for a theme like this. So exciting. Enjoy! – U.B

* * *

**Coffee Cake:**

It had all started with a Monday.

Any businessman in his most proper state of mind would have absolutely abhorred Mondays. They started their business week, after all, and ended their weekends and shortened the amount of time they had with the ones they cared for.

And at first, he had accepted such a fact. He had been through Mondays in the past and would surely come across many more of them in the future. But this certain Monday, the one that started it all, had had a markedly different melody from the moment he had gotten out of bed.

To begin, he was in a pleasant mood. The business coup he had conjured with his partners had gone smoothly, successfully drawing out his idiot half-brother from the line of succession. Inuyasha had not expected it, and that had been the icing on the cake.

Sesshomaru felt he should celebrate with an acceptable cup of coffee. So that Monday morning he decided to take a detour from his usual early-morning schedule and instead slipped into his most favorite coffee shop.

And that's where he met her.

Sesshomaru's eyes had been drawn to her the instant he had turned away from the counter. He had frozen in his spot, caught off guard with the steaming cup in one hand and a neatly folded newspaper tucked under his arm.

The clerk behind the counter frowned. "Oh," she sighed, "that's the new girl. She's not a real morning person."

Sesshomaru didn't care that she was new or even that she was not fully awake. What mattered to him the most was where she was sitting. "She is in my chair." He wondered, however, why a girl who wasn't a morning person would work in a coffee shop that was only open in the _morning_. Before the clerk could say anything more, Sesshomaru was walking toward the figure.

Her brown hair rolled off her shoulders in soft waves, unkempt in an appealing sort of way. She was wearing an apron over a white blouse and black skirt but her shoes were pink, bunny-eared slippers. The clerk's words echoed in his head: _"She's not a real morning person."_

"You are in my chair," he said flatly as he came to her side, and somewhere in the back of his mind he noted a familiar scent he couldn't quite place.

She lifted her head only slightly but after a moment of deep consideration, the girl blinked. "Oh, I am?" She straightened herself from her crouched position and peered behind her chair, studying the silver metal seriously. When she turned back around, her blue eyes were bright with something akin to amusement and she placed her chin against the palm of her hand. "I don't see a name."

Sesshomaru set his mug on the table. The clerk, seeing her best customer draw up his shoulders in a way that told her he was not in the least bit amused, quickly scrambled over. "Kagome," she chastised, "let the customer sit where he wants! Taisho-sama is an important consumer; he's been coming here since this place opened."

The girl – Kagome was her name – stood, but not as quickly as Sesshomaru would have liked. Instead, she shifted herself so that her legs slipped out from underneath the table, and, with her back facing him, she slowly drew herself upward. "I'm sorry, Clerk-san," Kagome said, clearly reprimanded.

"Don't apologize to _me,_ apologize to Taisho-sama."

Kagome tilted her face over her shoulder, judging Sesshomaru critically before sighing and turning to face him completely. Bowing slightly at the waist, she murmured an apology that managed to sound sincere.

"Do not make the mistake twice," was all he said as he settled in his chair.

Once Sesshomaru felt that his celebration was enough, he stood to leave. At that moment, the bothersome girl returned with a sheepish smile, holding something in her hands. Sesshomaru dully noted that her bunny slippers had been replaced by proper black shoes, and her untidy hair was pulled into a ponytail.

"I'm truly sorry for earlier," she said. "As a way of…justifying my apology, I made you this." Like a child holding out a flower to a crush on the playground, Kagome held out the object between her two hands, carefully wrapped in a napkin.

"Hn." Whatever was hidden beneath the confines of the napkin had an enticing scent that almost made his mouth water. He took it from her and was hailed by an amazingly brilliant smile. Unwrapping the napkin made the scent stronger and he soon realized what it was.

"Coffee cake," Kagome said eagerly. "It's a family recipe. It's pretty famous where I come from. I've never met a human being able to turn away from it," at this, she leaned forward so she was looking up into his face with a meaningful smile, "I'm not quite sure about a _youkai_, however."

Sesshomaru looked at her quickly, his eyes wide for only a moment, obviously suspicious. How could this girl know of youkai? How could she know that _he_, the great Taisho Sesshomaru, was a _youkai_?

"Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone." She tapped her nose with one finger, winking. "Mum's the word, right? I'm friends with a lot of youkai, so I wouldn't worry. Although, I don't think I've met any taiyoukai like _you_."

Sesshomaru stepped away from her. "We are not friends." And he walked out of the coffee shop.

* * *

When next he was able to go to the coffee shop, it was on a Thursday a week later. He had spent the whole time in between organizing his new company. The coup had been successful, but it had left things in slight disarray that Sesshomaru found displeasing. That Thursday, however, he found himself needing a break from the chaos.

He didn't know why he expected to see her there, with that smiling face. He didn't want to think about the disappointment he felt when he learned she was not there.

"Ah, no, Taisho-sama, Kagome isn't here today. She works only on Mondays," the clerk said rather nervously, "See, she's a temp."

Sesshomaru blinked lazily, masking his surprise. "A temp," he repeated, not quite sure he heard her right.

"Uh, yes. She works different jobs every day of the week – at least, that's how I understand it."

"Hn."

He sat at his usual table. When he stood to leave, the clerk covered a slight smile and said, "See you Monday, Taisho-sama!"

* * *

When Monday finally rolled around again, Sesshomaru found himself walking toward the coffee shop much to his despair. He couldn't explain the sudden curiosity he felt toward this new waitress. He was sure he had left as good of an impression on her as she had to him. Which was not good at all.

The bell above the door dinged mutely as he entered the café, and he found it pleasingly empty. The clerk behind the counter couldn't help but smile knowingly. He ordered his coffee, turned toward his table…

And found himself in a familiar situation of déjà vu.

Before he could say a word to the drowsy female, however, she said, without even lifting her head from the table, "God, I hate Mondays, don't you?" When he stood there, eyebrow raised, and said nothing she shifted her head so she could look up at him. "Don't look at me like that, 'Mr. I-Just-Ruined-My-Brother's-Life'. I can recognize your aura from fifty feet away."

His other eyebrow rose in obvious confusion. "So, you watch the news." They had been broadcasting his takeover for some days now; it seemed to be quite a popular story.

"No," Kagome answered, propping her chin in her hand, "I'm friends with your brother. It's all he talks about nowadays. All he _wants_ to talk about." Kagome sighed and waved to the chair across from her. Instead of ordering her out of his seat, Sesshomaru sat obediently across from her.

"You are a miko," he said in sudden realization, finally placing the scent in his mind. It was the scent of a miko's power.

Kagome smiled sadly, "Untrained, unfortunately." She pulled the packs of sugar toward her and began to organize them. "My family lives on a shrine in Tokyo. My grandfather taught me all that he could before he passed away, which wasn't much at all." Sesshomaru said nothing, merely watched her steady hands separate the blues from the pinks.

As suddenly as it had come, the sadness was gone and replaced by new excitement. "I gave you the coffee cake, right? Did you eat it? Did you like it?"

Sesshomaru couldn't help but be amused by the girl's fluctuating mood. If she wasn't a morning person, why was she so animated? "It was," he paused thoughtfully, "acceptable. Although the presentation was lax."

Kagome's smile spread so wide he thought her face would shatter. "You liked it. I had a feeling you would. That makes me…so happy."

"Did Inuyasha not appreciate it?" Sesshomaru couldn't help but wonder. He felt himself slowly relax into his chair.

"No, he did. I don't know how to explain it. It's just I wanted the opinion of…" Kagome paused, hesitant in her wording, "I know Inuyasha isn't picky with his food and he has increased senses but they can only go so far. I wanted the opinion of…"

"A true youkai," Sesshomaru supplied easily. He couldn't explain how _pleased_ that made him feel. It was something else he had that his half-brother was obviously did not. "He is a hanyou, after all, and his sense of taste and smell can only be so detailed. Did you want to know if it tasted good?"

"Yes, and you answered my question," Kagome answered, blushing from embarrassment. "I'll work on the presentation."

Sesshomaru stood to leave. "See that you do."

* * *

Sesshomaru came every Monday after that. He found that if he missed a Monday with Kagome, his week started rather badly. He was confused by his interest in the human woman; she was an enigma, in the least, and managed to grate his nerves just enough to relax him for the rest of the day.

It seemed that Kagome wasn't troubled by these new arrangements either. Every morning she awaited him at his usual table, usually with her head buried in her arms and half-asleep. But she would gradually wake up and talk to him about many trivial things he didn't care about – her family, friends (Inuyasha, mostly), the weather, her various part-time jobs…

How she didn't get fired for incompetence, he never understood.

But he guessed that it was one of Kagome's many charms.

"Does Inuyasha know you are seeing me?" Sesshomaru asked one morning.

Kagome looked up cautiously, as if she were a deer caught in the headlights of a rather dangerous car. "There are so many definitions of the word 'know', Sesshomaru," she laughed nervously, "Inuyasha is _aware_ that there is a customer I frequently talk to." At this, Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow.

"Very well, then. Is Inuyasha _aware_ that this Sesshomaru goes to a coffee shop every Monday morning in order to visit with his brother's woman?"

Kagome looked away sheepishly. "Inuyasha is _vigilant_ of the fact that you come into the coffee shop on occasion."

Sesshomaru leaned across the table, lifting a hand to turn her face towards him. "Now," he said knowingly, "why would my brother's miko refuse to tell him about her meetings with his brother?"

"Half-brother," she corrected meekly.

"Is it because you feel guilty?" They had been meeting like this for several months now – perhaps he had overstayed his welcome? Perhaps he had misjudged her shy smiles, her blushes? "Do you feel regretful?"

"No!" she said quickly, aghast. "I'm just scared!" At Sesshomaru's continued quiet, she sighed. "Inuyasha hates you. His opinion of you matters to me like your opinion did for the coffee cake. If he found out that I've been secretly scheming with you behind his back – because you know that's how it's going to seem to him – I'll lose him forever. If he rejects you, I'm scared that…" her voice broke to an ashamed whisper, "I'll never want to see him again because of it."

"Why is that?"

She covered her eyes with her hand, scowling. "Stop playing with me, Sesshomaru. I hate you so much! You know that it's because I love you!"

Sesshomaru leaned across the table and took her head in his hands, placing his forehead against hers and chuckling softly, "And I love you."

It was hard to imagine it all started with a Monday.


	13. Modern Art

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Modern Art  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** Entry for the 'modern' theme. This was a pretty old entry for the contest (somewhere around January). I knew I had other works I hadn't submitted yet, so I'm going back and looking for them before I go back to bed. Here's just one (possibly one of my favorites!). Please review.– U.B

* * *

**Modern Art:**

"Welcome back, Ms. Higurashi!" greeted her male secretary, Hiro, from where he sat behind his mahogany desk.

"How many times have I asked you to just call me 'Kagome'?" the young woman replied in mock exasperation as she hung her coat inside the closet. "Any messages for me?" she asked as she walked toward a counter, pulling out un-open envelopes from a cubby just above it.

"No messages, but there is someone here to see you," Hiro answered, as he glanced up from his computer, "a new benefactor for the museum."

Kagome turned, her blue eyes searching those of Hiro unsurely, "A new benefactor? Really?" When he nodded, she approached his desk with an air of gossip lust. Bending down just so, with her elbow against the hard wood top and her chin in the palm of her hand, she continued, "What's his name? Where's he from?"

"He named himself as a Mr. Taisho," Hiro answered and Kagome's eyes lit in recognition instantly.

"Would this be _the_ Taisho? The one who owns the Taisho and Company Art Collectors?"

"The same," he agreed.

Kagome's smile was grateful and warming to the heart, and Hiro's day – which had begun by falling out of bed and hitting his head against the corner of his metal bedside table – suddenly became much better. And for Kagome's day, it could only get better.

Would this be the chance to save her museum? She had understood from the beginning how hard it would be to open a new museum in Tokyo as she had, at the young age of twenty-five, but she had not thought it possible to be on the verge of bankruptcy in just short of a year of opening. They had a few benefactors and collectors who graciously donated their modern art and money, but all in all, nobody seemed interested enough in the contemporary art styles of today's artists to come and visit.

So, in the end, it had seemed that the museum – and all of Kagome's apparently fruitful sleepless nights signing bills and papers that never ended – would be for not.

But this Taisho – _the_ Taisho of the Taisho and Company Art Collectors – wanted to be a benefactor. _The_ Taisho, who was possibly the richest man in Tokyo, was sitting in her office awaiting a meeting. And he wanted to be a benefactor! A donator!

And Kagome's life had suddenly become bright and clear and oh-so-happy and she swung open her door and greeted the man inside, "Good afternoon Mr. Taisho! I hope I have not kept you waiting too long! Shall we…begin…" But her voice trailed off, and she was left standing in her doorway breathlessly staring into familiar gold eyes.

Except everything was wrong. Time had slowed down for a few precious minutes as she closed the door behind her, dazed and confused. Her eyes scanned over him once, then twice, but still the image did not fit.

He was supposed to be dressed in kimonos, with a furry thing around his shoulder and long silver hair and swords strapped to his sides. But this Sesshomaru, who had been peering at pictures hanging off her walls just mere moments before, was dressed in a prim and proper business suit, his hair cut short. His mokomoko-sama had been replaced by a tie, his swords replaced by a navy binder with papers inside.

Unlike Kagome, whose eyes were wide and her mouth hanging open dumbly, Sesshomaru seemed not surprised in the least. He gazed at the young woman before him equally, before sitting down across from her desk in a comfortable chair.

She hadn't seen him since she had left the Feudal Era. That had been so long ago. As if in a dream, she walked to the chair behind her desk and sat in it numbly.

"Miko," he greeted evenly.

"Ses – Sesho…" but Kagome found she couldn't say the powerful taiyoukai's name so she just said softly, "Mr. Taisho."

She couldn't believe Sesshomaru was sitting here, in her time, in her ugly gray chair, in her office, across from her and he wasn't trying to kill her. Surely he was still mad at her for running away from him so long ago. But as she studied his expression, Kagome soon found that she could no longer read the stoic man's face and she nervously weaved her shaking fingers together.

"So…you, uh," she began, her voice shaking as badly as her hands, "wish to be a benefactor of my museum?"

"No."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for a long time, and Kagome found herself remembering a time when she was still in high school, and she would jump down a simple well into another era. Five hundred years in the past, to be exact, and to a time of unrequited love, death, adventure, and true happiness.

"So, uh," Kagome tried again, "what have you been doing? Surely you have done many things in the past centuries?" When he did not answer, she became flustered, "Well, I guess, so have I. I mean, not in centuries more like the past ten years. After I crossed the well and sealed it, I ended up graduating high school and I got into this really nice college far away. After switching my major about a hundred times," at this she laughed nervously, "I finally chose art history as my major and journalism as my minor…"

When he merely blinked, Kagome realized he was soaking in what she said. Sesshomaru wasn't just ignoring her, he was actually _listening_. He was…interested?

"And I came back to Tokyo and moved back in with my family after I graduated and got a job at a museum. After a while, I had just enough money to open my own place and get my own apartment, so I did that…and now I have a bunch of debts I need to pay up," she admitted guiltily, "But that's not the point. I'm about to start graduate school, so I've started hiring and looking for benefactors. And that's why I thought you were here…"

When her voice trailed off uncertainly, Sesshomaru leaned back in his chair; his unreadable façade had returned. "I assume you wish to know of my brother," he said simply, reading the thoughts Kagome hadn't wanted to think of.

"N-no!" Kagome stumbled, eyes wide. After a moment, she looked away. "The truth is, I've been doing fine since all that. I gave them their wish, I've accepted it now." When she looked back to Sesshomaru, she was smiling sadly, "I want to know about everyone else; Miroku and Sango, and little Shippo, too!"

Sesshomaru nodded and weaved his fingers silently in his lap. "Your demon-slayer friend lived a long life, and died peacefully in sleep."

Kagome gulped, "And…Miroku?"

"There was a plague thirty years after your departure, and the monk fell to the illness."

"Oh…" Maybe she didn't want to hear anything more. After all, her best friends died a long time ago. She hadn't even been around to say good-bye…

"She took it well," he continued, "The demon-slayer took it well enough for a human woman. She shed tears, but did not lose herself to dementia." After a pause, he finally added, "And the monk was not a lone in his departure. The dead priestess joined him soon after of the same disease."

Kagome sucked in a breathe that sounded like a whistle, and she shut her eyes, trying to imagine the funeral that must have taken place for the two heroes. She could picture Sango standing at the front of a gathering, pride and determination keeping her from bursting into tears. Inuyasha would be in a near-by tree, unable to watch his beloved be cremated.

She could not even fathom the pain Inuyasha felt at losing Kikyo once more, and she didn't want to know what he did after the pain subsided. He must have followed her to hell, as he had promised.

"And Shippo?" she asked warily, not wanting to hear what had happened to her small kit but at the same time needing the information like a drug.

"The kitsune is living with me."

"What?" her voice was one laced with relief and disbelief.

Sesshomaru seemed to raise his shoulders in annoyance before continuing, "Until a century ago, the kitsune lived in London harassing smaller demons. He heard of me and searched me out. The kitsune asked if I would let him room and board, and allow him to train beneath me. I agreed. The kitsune lives with me now."

"Shippo's alive and well?" Kagome breathed thankfully, tears threatening to pool over her cheeks. She quickly brushed the heel of her hand against her eyes before grinning at Sesshomaru. "That's…its great. Thank you, Sesshomaru. Thank you so much."

"Hn."

Finally relaxed she looked at him in confusion, "Why are you here if not to be a donator?"

Sesshomaru turned his eyes toward the wall of pictures once more, to a certain photograph of Kagome in a stunning white dress that floated around her knees. Her arm was looped with a young man who wore a black suit and a flower in his pocket.

"Sesh…Mr. Taisho?"

Sesshomaru looked back at the young miko, his eyes searching hers for a long minute before he asked instead of answering her question, "Why modern art?"

Kagome looked at him in stupefaction before laughing lightly, the sound music to his ears. "It's simple really," she said once her giggles had subsided, "modern art doesn't have form, there's no structure. Well, there is, but it's the entire artist's interpretation."

"It's splattered paint on a white canvas," Sesshomaru countered dryly.

"Yes," Kagome agreed rationally, "it is. But it's a beautiful splatter." And she grinned widely at Sesshomaru, and he was reminded of an era when they would sit across from each other with the only thing separating him from her was a warm fire. Now it was a desk separating them, and a desk was so much easier to cross than a fire.

And that was the special thing about Kagome, too; she could see a glimmer of splendor in a mass of chaos.

Kagome turned back to her earlier question, studying Sesshomaru's expression warily, "You never answered me, Mr. Taisho; Why are you here?"

Instead of answering, Sesshomaru stood quickly, causing his chair to screech against the hard wood floor. Kagome stood in response, surprised; afraid that maybe she had offended him in some way.

But he wasn't heading for the door. Oh no, he was doing the complete opposite. He had her against a wall in three long strides and multiple stumbling steps in her case. His hand pressed against the space just beside her face, he stared at her with something on the verge of primal.

"Why do you persist in calling me that?" he growled.

"Y-You're title?" she squeaked in trepidation, her eyes wide.

"Call me by my name," he insisted, the hand beside her head crumpling into a fist.

"Sesh-Sesshomaru-sama?" she guessed.

He pressed his forehead against hers and Kagome felt her heart stop, her breath hitch in her throat. "Has it been that long? Is it possible?" he wondered, his voice husky, "That now that I'm in your modern age, you no longer have the same spirit? The same freedom? The same," for a moment, he opened his eyes and searched hers before continuing, "beauty?"

Now Kagome knew she was dreaming, and she didn't say anything. _Okay, Kagome, wake up,_ she coached herself.

He unclenched his hand and set it almost hesitantly against the side of her face, his fingers shaking with the effort to keep himself under control. "You could not have chosen a museum for anything but modern art. You are free, informal, and while you are chaotic you have always been a beauty…" He paused warily as his eyes flickered to a red, "...You made me look forward to the future; to your strange modern world with instant noodles and talking machinery."

"Sessh…Sesshomaru," she breathed softly, astonishment and warmth filling her very being as, with the sound of his name, he crushed his lips against hers.

And she was brought back to an era where, as she stood beside the well for the last time in the Feudal Era, she had faced Sesshomaru and told him, _"I'm sorry I couldn't make your wish come true."_

And he had merely replied, _"…You have."_


	14. They Never Last Forever

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** They Never Last Forever  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** 'Goodbye' theme in way early December. Woah, it won first on that prompt. Coolness. I wonder how many of these I'm gonna be able to post tonight before having to go to bed? –U.B.

* * *

**They Never Last Forever****:**

Kagome stared into the mouth of the old Bone Eater's Well, into her future, into her past, into everything. The old well had been the cause of the whole thing, hadn't it? She had fought for three long years, and it was finally the end—the end of everything; of the present, of what could have been. Her hands tightened around the lip of the well, the aged wood creaking under her grip.

"Is this it then," she asked it softly; "this is what you wanted to teach me?"

After the final battle with Naraku, Inuyasha had left. He had had a destiny to complete, a promise to fulfill. He had gone to Kikyo, and Kagome hadn't seen him since. She had said her goodbyes to him with a firm chin. She had known the time was coming when the night before the final battle he said:

"_Tomorrow, whatever happens, don't come after me._"

She missed him greatly, and at the thought of the hanyou, her blue eyes filled with tears. "Is it that? To learn the pain of love lost?"

She remembered when she had come to Sango when she had awakened that morning. Her friend had been cooking, and she seemed to know what was coming before Kagome had even opened her mouth.

"_You're leaving then?"_ Sango had said.

Kagome had nodded her head and Sango had stood, facing her adopted sister with tears in her eyes.

"_There's nothing holding me back now,_" the young miko had explained, her heart breaking, _"My place isn't here._"

In that moment, Kagome's heart had gone out to her sister. The young demon slayer had buried her face in her hands before throwing her arms around Kagome's shoulders.

"_Thank you, Kagome_," Sango had whispered in her ear.

"_What for_?" Kagome had sniffled, gripping Sango tightly.

"_For bringing my faith back,_" Sango had explained as she pulled away from her friend.

Kagome remembered saying goodbye to Miroku at lunch time. The monk had been setting up the meal and when he had spotted Kagome at the edge of the clearing watching him, he had smiled knowingly and come in front of her.

"_Kagome-chan_," the monk had greeted warmly.

"_I'm sorry_," Kagome had said immediately and the monk's eyes had widened in surprise, "_I'm sorry for everything._"

Miroku had nodded in understanding and looked at his cursed hand in contemplation. _"Don't worry yourself over it, Kagome-chan_," he had said as he looked back at her with a grin, "_I've accepted my fate. Besides, I don't believe I'm alone anymore._" And he had looked over his shoulder at the demon-slayer cooking at the fire and looked back at Kagome meaningfully.

Kagome had laughed sharply, wiping her tears from her eyes and hugged him lightly before pulling away.

And the young miko remembered saying farewell to her adoptive son. It had been one of the most painful of all, watching as the kit she had patted her on the hand and told her:

"_Kagome-nee-chan, it's alright. I understand. I love you._"

Kagome supposed she should have apologized to Sesshomaru for his arm, should have said goodbye to Rin, and should have beat the toad one last time. But Sesshomaru and his companions were often aloof somewhere else and she had neither the energy nor the time for finding them.

She snorted. She had no time at all. Time was a mystery to her – just as much as Sesshomaru was. So detached, but she would often catch him gazing at her with a look of utter confusion. As if he were trying to figure out the enigma that was Higurashi Kagome.

As she released her grip on the old well she bent down to pick up her backpack. "Well, that's it then."

"Miko."

The voice, so cold and distant, made Kagome jump and she spun around to face the taiyoukai. "Sesshomaru!" she exclaimed in surprise as wiped the last stray tears from her cheeks, "What are you doing here?"

"Hn." Sesshomaru tucked a loose strand of silky white hair behind his ear and walked up beside her to peer into the well.

Kagome looked over her shoulder back into the mysterious darkness of the portal before looking up to meet Sesshomaru's gaze.

"You are going back to your era?" he guessed. When Kagome nodded, the powerful youkai peered back into the darkness. "When will you be returning?"

Kagome sighed and pushed herself away from the well and Sesshomaru, turning instead toward her large yellow backpack to put it onto her shoulders. "I'm not."

"You are not leaving?"

Kagome closed her eyes tightly. She wanted desperately to say she wanted to stay—she wanted so much to have a reason to stay. "No, I'm not coming back."

Sesshomaru was quiet a long time and finally he stepped away from the well to gaze at the priestess in front of him. "You are needed here, miko," he said.

"No, I'm really not. Everyone's got their happy ending, Sesshomaru; it's time I get mine, too." She stared at her pack blankly, "Besides, I have no reason to stay. And I don't belong here. If I were to stay…well, the past is not a place for a girl like me."

Sesshomaru turned his face to the sky and watched the sunset's flame light across the sky, turning it different shades of orange and purple. "This is regarding the hanyou, then?"

Kagome snorted softly and ran a hand through her dirty hair, brushing it away from her face as she glanced back at Sesshomaru sadly. "I never thought I'd say it, but you're very talkative, Sesshomaru." She bent down and began to rummage through her pack, making sure she had all her necessary belongings.

"Hn," was his only reply for a while, turning his face back up at the flame-tinted sky.

Finally Kagome faced the taiyoukai with a strained smile. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."

"Only for a diminutive time," Sesshomaru seemed to promise as he stared down at the small miko, the one he had grown attached to since joining his brother's small band of humans.

"No," Kagome said, choking on her voice, "When I get home, I'm closing the portal. Kaede…she…Kaede showed me how a miko might close a portal. I'm not a real priestess, but I can do that much."

His eyes narrowed slightly and for a moment, just a moment Kagome thought she had angered him in some way. But then his facial features changed, turning back into stone, and he looked away from her.

"Goodbye, Sesshomaru-sama," she breathed his title as she bowed to him quietly, the first sign of respect she had ever given him. And for some reason, he didn't like it; he didn't want her to give him respect.

"We will see each other soon, miko," he told her.

As Kagome bent down and hefted the pack onto her shoulder she laughed bitterly and swung a leg over the lip of the well. "Please," she said softly, "just this once," she looked back up at him with a sad smile, "Please say my name."

When he did not acknowledge her, she nodded her head in understanding, "Goodbye, Sesshomaru-sama." Because of course he wouldn't say her lowly human name; it was beneath him.

So as she swung her other leg over and jumped into the well, tears stung her eyes as she heard, "I will see you soon, Kagome."

The tears floated above her head as she cried, floating between time and space for that moment. And she cried.

She cried for Inuyasha. She cried for Sango. She cried for Miroku. She cried for Shippo. She cried for Rin.

But most of all, she cried for Sesshomaru.

And as her feet finally touched ground, the tears that had floated above her head finally fell around her like glistening silver raindrops and she fell to her knees.

She sat there for a long time, and when the tears finally stopped, she placed her hands against the ground and willed her miko powers from her heart, through her arms, down to her fingertips and suddenly the well glowed brightly in a purple light.

And when it vanished, Kagome was no longer sitting inside a portal.

She was sitting inside an old broken well inside her family's shrine, and she stood on shaking legs. The magic was gone; the static feeling that used to raise the hair on her arms – that delicious feeling of warmth – was gone. And she cried.

She dropped her backpack to the dirt covered ground and began to climb her way back up to the mouth of the well. As she climbed, she peered down into the well from over her shoulder, her tears stinging her cheeks.

Finally her hand gripped the railing of the well and as she hefted one leg over, he spoke.

"Hello, Kagome."

She looked over at him in shock, and when she saw Sesshomaru standing there inside the well house, casually dressed in a suit with his silver hair tied into a ponytail, she cried harder. He took three long strides toward her and cupped her face between two big hands and made her look at him.

"Didn't this Sesshomaru tell you?" he said his voice husky with what seemed like repressed love, "Only for a diminutive time." And as she smiled up at him, still crying, he finally captured the lips he had been dreaming of for five hundred years with his and kissed her with all the love he possessed.

He had waited five hundred years for this – This one moment, to prove to her that she was needed. He had waited five hundred years. And it had been five hundred years too long.

As he rested his forehead against hers, his golden eyes took in her beautiful blues a ghost of a smile danced across his lips at her flushed expression, "Did you not know, Kagome?" he breathed, "Goodbyes never last forever."


	15. Memories

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Memories  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** 'Child' theme in way November. Have you ever wrote something, put it away, forgot about it, lost it, found it, and re-read it? The feeling is kind of mesmerizing, in a way. I can't believe I wrote some of this stuff. –U.B.  
**PREQUEL TO DRONES**

* * *

**Memories****:**

_Kagome threw herself onto the couch, visibly slumping her shoulders in defeat. When this outward projection did not seem to deter her companion, she opened her mouth and groaned. It wasn't one of her '_I'm-so-irritated-with-you' _groans, which he would have preferred. It was her '_I'm-in-the-mood-for-food-you-stupid-taiyoukai-so-fetch' _groan…which she had just recently made an art of._

_When Sesshomaru still did not turn to acknowledge his mate, she took to more drastic measures. Once she had seated herself precariously on the edge of the cushion, she then preceded to throw her hands into the air wildly, while groaning. Not only did this action make her look ridiculous, but she also managed to smack Sesshomaru square in the face with the back of her left hand._

_Befuddled by the sudden interruption of his mid-morning readings of the Daily Paper, Sesshomaru looked over to Kagome. "Hn."_

_This seemed to infuriate the miko even more and she stood from the couch to face the powerful taiyoukai, pointing an index finger at his nose. "I'm hungry."_

_Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow, "And what would you like for me to do about it?"_

_Kagome placed her hands on her hips and faced Sesshomaru fearlessly. Any other mortal would have been struck dead where they stood for saying what Kagome was about to say. "Feed me," she demanded. No mortal ever lived to tell the tale of how they ordered Sesshomaru. Kagome was a different mortal, however, and in history's book she technically wasn't human. _

_So instead of killing her, Sesshomaru went back to reading the paper. "That is not my job."_

_Kagome felt her eye twitch. "It became your job the minute you did_ this_!" she exclaimed as she pointed a finger at her slightly protruding belly accusingly. "Who knew that when you're pregnant with a_ half-demon_, you have to eat_ ten times as much _as when you're pregnant with a normal baby?"_

_Sesshomaru looked at her tummy blankly before looking back up at her face. "I had initially inquired if you were prepared for the responsibility," he pointed out simply._

_"I thought the responsibility meant taking care of a_ baby_!" she cried out in exasperation, stomping her foot, "because I'm all ready for that! Give me a ticket for the Baby Express because I'm packed and ready for an adventure!"_

_Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and stood. He didn't want to put stress on the mother-to-be, after all. And besides, her screaming was getting more than just a little obnoxious. So, taking her hand in his, he led her toward the kitchen. "Let us see what we can make, shall we?"_

_Kagome, her mood rapidly changing, grinned happily. "Oh, Sesshomaru, you_ do _care!"_

* * *

Memories. They were hard to overcome as time grew wider.

Sesshomaru had made a promise he had sworn to keep; an assurance of a certain miko's safety in her own time. The methods he chose to use to guarantee her safety were of his own decisions, and the one he thought best was to never allow her to know of his existence in her own time.

Besides, by the time she realized he was in her era, she wouldn't care. She would love him, and not his brother Inuyasha.

But as Sesshomaru stood outside her family's home, he couldn't help but remember. The miko wasn't in the world yet, her mother was still only two months pregnant. But the resemblance in personalities was uncanny.

Standing with a purpose, Ms. Higurashi – at this time and place a missus – pointed her index finger at her husband's nose and ordered: "Feed me."

"That's not my problem," the husband replied without looking up.

Ms. Higurashi's eye twitched. "It became your problem the minute you did _this_!" she shouted, waving her hands dramatically around the small bump.

Sesshomaru smirked knowingly. Like mother like daughter, he supposed. And, turning on his heels, he disappeared down the steps of the old shrine and out into the street.


	16. Curiosity Killed the Cat

_Paralyzer  
_by Unwritten Bliss  
_A Drabble Series_

**Title:** Curiosity Killed the Cat  
**Characters:** Sesshomaru and Kagome  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters, or the ideas, of Rumiko Takahashi.  
**Notes:** 'Stripes' theme in September. My God, did I write that? –U.B.  
**Warning:** Suggestive content? Oo-la-la.

* * *

**Curiosity Killed the Cat****:**

She had always wondered.

Every time she asked,

She was told:

"Do not think on it, miko."

But seriously.

She wanted to know.

Slowly she crept up to him,

She knew he knew she wanted to know.

She _knew_ he knew she knew he knew she wanted to know.

Even _Inuyasha_ knew.

And he was watching not far away,

Bemused amusement.

Suddenly,

The taiyoukai's person was disturbed.

He looked down at her through narrowed eyes.

But he couldn't keep a frown,

A stern glare.

Damn her pestering fingers.

They stroked his markings cunningly.

A low growl from somewhere near by.

Was it him?

Or his brother?

"Sesshomaru?"

He couldn't turn his head away.

Couldn't stand.

She was sitting in his _lap_ after all.

"How far down do these tattoos go?"

A startled blink,

A choke of laughter from a nearby tree.

"Sesshomaru?"

"They are not _tattoos_."

An irritated groan,

Hands pressing on his shoulders,

She was trying to gain leverage.

He blinked.

"I know you know I really want to know!"

"You really wish this knowledge?"

"Yes!"

A slow,

Dragging smirk.

"How great is your imagination?"

Her mouth falls open.

A burst of laughter from the hanyou.

A blush so bright,

It was intriguing.

And then he was rubbing his thumb against her cheek,

Motioning toward the blush,

Another smirk,

"How far down does the blush go?"


End file.
